Holiday Postage Stamps

Like Christmas postcards, holiday postage stamps are useful for the holiday season. The post office offers a variety of themed holiday stamps for just about every major holiday.

Of course, one of the most popular holiday postage stamp themes is Christmas. What better stamp is there to affix on an envelope that contains the yearly Christmas letter? Besides venerable Christmas icons like Santa Clause and Frosty the Snowman, the United States Post Office offers Christmas stamps with Disney characters and stamps featuring characters from the favorite Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker. Postage stamps specific to the 2009 winter holiday season were issued starting on October 8th. The designer of the winter holiday postage stamps, including images of reindeer and snowmen, for 2009 was artist Joseph Cudd of Greensboro, North Carolina. A Hanukkah stamp, designed by Lisa Regan, and a Kwanzaa stamp, designed by Lloyd McNeill, are also available.

Another holiday associated with letters and postage stamps is Valentine's Day. In the U.S., one prominent Valentine's Day stamp has been sold every year since 1973. This classic stamp, created by Pop Art artist Robert Indiana, is known simply as LOVE. The design was used earlier on a Christmas card created for the Museum of Modern Art. Today, another option exists for consumers who desire a more personal, unique stamp - budding artists can submit their own photo to be printed on a custom stamp via several USPS approved sites. Two of the four total options includes photo.stamps.com and zazzle.com. Of course, there are rules regarding what these sites will print as stamps, as inappropriate and copyrighted photos will not be accepted.

Holiday postage stamps are a nice touch for a holiday letter or card. If you would like to discuss holiday postage stamps with others, please register and participate in the CollectStampsandPostcards.com forum.